Hear from Andrea Jacques at PD Nexus: Thriving at Work on August 20, where she will present Fulfilled: The 5 Drivers of Thriving in Turbulent Times.
If you want to start a powerful new habit, try amping up your praise-giving prowess. Not only does recognizing others boost the energy and happiness of both giver and receiver, data from Gallup shows that positive feedback is a key driver of engagement, performance, retention, wellbeing and fulfillment at work.
However, not all praise is created equal. “Good job!” “Great work on that report.” Or even, “I like your new haircut,” can make a person feel good, but it’s not the kind of praise that research shows drives performance or engagement. To do that, you need to provide meaningful recognition. You can do this by incorporating these six elements to power up your praise.
1. Be attentive and authentic
You can’t provide effective and meaningful recognition if you aren’t paying attention. In fact, one survey found that fewer than 40% of employees feel adequately recognized for their work. This might seem obvious, but leaders often don’t take the time to tune in to what their people are doing unless something goes awry.
Great leaders make it a habit to “catch people doing something right” every day. Start with the people you interact with most or the top performers on your team. Reflect on what you saw them do very well that day – how did they improve, contribute, or display excellence or creativity? It only takes a minute to connect with what you authentically appreciate about them and how they add value.
With team members who have performance challenges, it can be more difficult to give authentic positive feedback, but it’s worth the effort. Simply choosing to give them positive recognition every day, no matter how small, can add up. In fact, one study suggests that receiving positive feedback on a task can help a person perform better the next time.
2. Get specific with your recognition
Instead of just telling someone you appreciated their work, go deeper and get specific on exactly what you thought was good. What was interesting, effective, or unique? Instead of just, “Great job on that report Susan,” say something like, “The graphics on your report were outstanding – I particularly appreciated the creativity of your graphs. The unique ways you presented the information gave me some new insights.”
3. Personalize it
Recognition has more power when it’s personal. Ask yourself what unique traits and strengths were underlying the moment of excellence, improvement, or contribution you noticed. You could personalize the example above by saying, “You always see the big picture about who these reports are for. I think that allows you to find creative ways to simplify the data and I see that creativity in other areas of your work too.”
4. Make your feedback meaningful
Feedback, both positive and corrective, is more meaningful when it helps the person appreciate why their actions matter in the big picture. Consider why their contributions are important to you, your team, or the business. Tell them why you admire, value, or appreciate their actions, words, methods, or approach so much, and the impact they have. Adding to the above example, you might say, “Your ability to depict data in meaningful ways really helps our team drive home the key value we’ve created with our work.”
5. Be curious about their process and passions
There’s always that awkward moment after you give someone positive feedback when both the giver and the receiver aren’t sure what to do next. Sometimes the receiver will naturally share more details on what you are recognizing them for. However, if they don’t, have a question ready that allows them to elaborate. It could be as simple as, “Where did you learn to do that?” or “Have you always had such a good eye for data?” Pay close attention to what they say. When people talk about things they are good at or enjoy doing, they start to drop clues about what their strengths and motivations are. This will provide insight on how to help them align their goals with the organization’s needs.
6. Be generous and regular with your praise
While there’s not an exact figure for the optimal amount of positive feedback to give, Forbes notes that high-performing teams have about a 5:1 ratio of positive to negative interactions. Generally, leaders should aim to give at least twice as much positive feedback as corrective feedback. When people know their strengths are seen and appreciated, they feel less threatened, and therefore more open to receiving feedback on areas where they could improve.
To make giving praise a regular habit, schedule a ten-minute walk around your workplace once or twice a day with the intention of finding spontaneous opportunities to recognize your people. If you want to be more systematic, list your team members’ names and make a quick note of the date and the positive feedback you gave them. This will help you deliver positive feedback to all your people and avoid always recognizing them for the same things.
If you keep these elements in mind, you’ll find that delivering powerful praise takes just a few minutes. As you turn it into a regular practice, you’ll find it becomes one of the most energizing and impactful parts of your day.
Andrea Jacques is the founder and CEO of Kyosei Consulting where she has spent more than three decades helping leaders drive performance and profits while creating workplaces that grow – rather than deplete – the energy, creativity, and wellbeing of their people. You can learn more about Andrea and her work at kyoseiconsulting.com.
